Chapter 48
“So, you came to Romero back then?”
“I didn’t make it to the event, though.”
We had already gone over that story—so why did it feel suspicious?
Even as I widened my eyes to question him, Arius said nothing more, keeping his mouth tightly shut.
“Maybe that’s for the best.”
The topic had shifted to the Concha Rocío event, after all.
I raised my voice as if I’d just remembered something.
“Oh, now that I think about it, who will be the offering for this year’s Concha Rocío?”
“…Offering?”
Arius repeated my words as if he’d heard something strange.
I asked back, flustered.
“Don’t… they make an offering?”
“To my knowledge, since the establishment of the Naparo Empire, no human has ever been offered.”
“Oh, really?”
Even though I had spoken so naively, Arius didn’t seem to find it particularly odd.
It was probably because I had never properly attended the event.
Yes, pretending to be naïve wasn’t such a bad choice.
“In the play we saw today, a person was used as the offering.”
“They say it happened before the Naparo Empire as well. As in the play, it was mostly people of high noble blood, but since the method was execution by fire, they usually chose someone from a family that had committed a serious crime. Since the Naparo Empire, no person has ever been designated.”
“That makes sense. Burning people alive is too horrific anyway.”
“Exactly. Even before Naparo, the Pope hadn’t designated any humans for a long time, only animals.”
Hmm, this was tricky. The nobles might have the bloodline, but it had been a long time since a person was chosen as an offering—and the decision rested with the Pope.
I bit my lip and asked again.
“You never know. Maybe there’s a slight chance the Pope could select someone?”
“The cathedral receives tremendous support from all the nobility, from the grand ducal houses down to the barons. Blasphemous as it sounds, in that situation, even if the Pope wanted to select someone for a grave crime, it wouldn’t be easy. On top of that, only those who have come of age can be offerings, making it even more complicated.”
In other words, if you want something, you need money.
Sephardi must also be paying, for sure. If Gabriella or Jose were to be designated as offerings and fell out of favor with the Pope, it would be disastrous.
Of course, the Pope would be protecting Maribel as well.
“How much money does Maribel have right now?”
It wasn’t a small amount.
However, the jewels had to be returned to their original form, and money was needed for the theater troupe and theater sponsorships, so that had to be set aside first.
Also, if I wanted to ask the Pope to make someone an offering, I’d likely need to give far more money than the Sephardi family did.
I might need even more than I currently had.
I swallowed a small sigh.
“I really don’t have time.”
I had come almost by chance, and yet to leave, I might have to bribe the Pope and risk my life.
“Can’t I just spend all of Maribel’s money?”
That wouldn’t be entirely bad, but first I needed to calculate all the money to be given to the Pope, the money to give Arius along with the engagement request and information, and the sponsorship fees. It’d be better to find a few more ways to make money.
Lost in frantic calculations about how much money was needed where, I stayed silent for a moment. Arius asked,
“Are you alright? You look surprised.”
“Oh, I… I’ve never properly attended the Concha Rocío event before. I feel a bit embarrassed that I didn’t know about these things.”
“There’s really no need to worry about being an offering. Unless you conspire to commit treason, that will never happen.”
I had no interest in treason, but the one I wanted to be… was the offering.
If I kept talking to Arius, I might accidentally reveal that thought. I forced a weak smile and turned my gaze out the window.
I was a little worried about how busy things were going to get.
Being burned alive was terrifying—so much so that I considered just staying here for a while.
But the offering wouldn’t have any consciousness anyway, and even in this novel-like life, I had a plan for my life.
“I need to quickly propose to Arius at the right time too.”
Just thinking about the timing made my head spin. Now I also had to pay attention to the urging Matteo would bring.
My finger, which had been tapping on the window frame of the carriage, came to a stop.
“Duke, may I ask you something?”
“What question is that?”
“You said to my father that I’m worthy of being a duchess, right?”
Arius responded with an expression that said, What’s the problem with that?
“That’s right.”
“You meant it?”
“I did.”
“Why did you say it, then?”
“Did it make you uncomfortable?”
“Hmm.”
Not so much uncomfortable as Matteo had misunderstood it.
The misunderstanding wasn’t necessarily bad. Even though it was a misunderstanding, it made Matteo value me highly, and he began to strategize between Pedro and Arius.
The driver probably created this private moment for that reason too.
“It’s not uncomfortable. But to think that a half-Sephardi girl with Moro blood could be considered duchess material…”
“Is there a problem?”
“I’m worried my father might misunderstand the Duke of Romero. That he knows nothing about politics, or wants to diminish Sephardi’s influence. Romero is already wide and strong enough, isn’t it?”
“That wasn’t my intention. And according to Naparo’s laws, there’s no rule forbidding women from becoming duchesses. Even if the young lady has Moro blood, she also carries Sephardi blood in equal measure.”
“Well, that’s true.”
“I just mentioned it because of your deep affection for the Sephardi. I was also impressed by your comments on trade.”
Arius said seriously.
He had misjudged me. I wasn’t someone with deep love for Sephardi.
The person I loved was my deceased sibling, and if I loved Sephardi, it was only because it reminded me slightly of my sibling.
I gave a bitter smile and said,
“Have you considered the Duchess of Sephardi from Puerto? My mother. Do you intend to slight Puerto?”
“There is no choice that satisfies everyone.”
“Of course, but their son Jose, who inherits both noble lines, is already busy every day preparing to become a duke.”
“I know the Sephardi heir is hot-headed. But I’m not sure that will help the current Sephardi territory much.”
Arius spoke firmly.
Hot-headed? Jose would never fight publicly in front of others.
The same applied to Yun Seho.
His quarrels were always directed at me.
“Arius must have noticed that.”
Although I never lost when provoked, he must have seen it.
I shrugged.
“Of course, Jose isn’t that brilliant. He gets angry easily, and can’t hide it when he does. But that doesn’t prevent him from becoming a duke, right? A duke must express anger and ignore what needs to be ignored, depending on the situation.”
I stopped there.
“To express anger and ignore what needs to be ignored… what else is needed to become a duke?”
The Duke himself was right in front of me.
I swallowed the rest of my idle chatter.
“No, nothing.”
“I’m just genuinely curious.”
“You should know best. Duke of Romero, you are already a duke.”
After saying that, I fixed my gaze through the small window.
Arius chuckled briefly. That laugh tickled my stomach.
Just like when Arius had wrapped the bandage around my arm.
“How was yesterday?”
It was a morning meeting where joining only meant being a burden.
I had no choice but to sit down, trying to eat the thin, crispy churros dipped in rich chocolate with a smiling face, when Cecilia spoke.
“You came in quite late, Maribel.”
It was a scolding—what had I been doing with Arius to be so late?
Matteo stared at me intently.
Meeting here, meeting there—so much fuss.
I put down the chocolate-covered churros on the plate and said casually,
“It took some time to get the fan and clothes. There was a mistake, but they said it could be fixed quickly. I didn’t want to go back and forth, so I watched a play while waiting. It was so entertaining I didn’t notice the time pass.”
“Did you watch a play, sister? Did you go to the Panto Theater?”
Gabriella’s eyes sparkled.
Yoon Gabi felt the same way. She loved plays, musicals, movies, dramas, books, and often went to see them.
After becoming friends, sometimes we went together.
I smiled softly at Gabriella, whose tastes overlapped with Gabi’s.
But Pedro immediately interrupted.
“I don’t know if it’s right for a security guard to drag a noble young lady around like that, Duke of Romero.”
The criticism was directed at Arius, not me.
When Arius hesitated for a moment with the teacup at his lips, I stepped in.
